Vehicles are equipped with standard safety features such as seat belts and airbags. In an effort to provide increased safety to the driver and passengers within the vehicle in any traffic collision or automotive accident, automotive manufacturers have produced vehicles with multiple airbags located throughout the cabin (e.g., passenger airbags, side airbags, curtain airbags, etc.) to protect the occupants in various crash scenarios. All of the airbags within a vehicle are controlled by an electronic control unit for an airbag (i.e., airbag ECU) which detects and evaluates a crash before deploying the necessary airbags dependent upon the location and severity of the crash. The airbag ECU receives input from various crash sensors (e.g., acceleration sensors, pressure sensors) located about the vehicle. Once the airbag ECU determines that a crash has occurred, an inflator system fills up the airbag with a gas such as nitrogen.
Airbag ECUs are typically located on a floor panel or underbody panel of a vehicle and can experience impacts from debris that is kicked up from the environment, such as dirt or rocks. Various tests are conducted within vehicles and over multiple road and off-road terrains to verify that the impacts experienced by the airbag ECUs do not disrupt or cease functionality of said units.